vatican city

The Vatican is a small, beautiful, artistic, extremely Christian sort of place. St. Peter’s Square (actually an oval) is hugged on two sides by giant marble columns with saintly sculptures sitting on top. In the center of the square is a fountain and an obelisk. Only after this visit did I start to appreciate how many religious symbols are represented on our currency.

St. Peter’s Basilica is easily the most grandiose and cavernous church I have ever been to. It’s interior and exterior are both richly decorated with ornate sculptures and art. There was a huge gold and brown altar in the center with twisted columns towering over visitors. You could even give confessions there in more than 5 different languages!

We climbed the stairs all the way up St. Peter’s dome and the view was breathtaking. Aside from St. Peter’s, we also toured the Vatican Museum which includes the Sistine Chapel. There were many rooms dedicated to Raphael (his School of Athens was my favorite) and several Michaelanglo works too. I wish the Sistine Chapel had room for you to lay down and fully appreciate Michaelangelo’s ceiling since it’s a substantial strain on your neck to keep looking up and take in the enormity of his work. As we wandered away from the Vatican, we stumbled across Castel Sant’Angelo (Mausoleum of Hadrian). It was a very stony and stoic structure but had a great view of St. Peter’s from afar!